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In this week’s issue:
From The Times Argus:
MONTPELIER — A bill that offers enhanced penalties for assaulting mandated reporters and criminalizes the act of making a threat cleared a key legislative committee Wednesday.
By a vote of 4 to 1, the Senate Judiciary Committee gave its go ahead to a proposed law that would offer stiffer penalties for assaulting a worker with the Department for Children and Families or anyone who is required to report suspected child abuse.
The bill comes in response to the 2015 shooting death of DCF worker Lara Sobel, who was killed outside her office in downtown Barre in August, and is one of several recent initiatives to protect workers who sometimes find themselves in the middle of contentious domestic situations.
Read this issue of Week In Action!
View the Week In Action Newsletter Archive!
Subscribe to Week In Action Here!
In this week’s issue:
Citation Would Have Required “Reasonable Timetable” For Remedy. VSEA issued the following this morning:
Vermont State Employees’ Association (VSEA) leaders and members are questioning VOSHA’s decision early this week to issue just a warning letter to DCF and not a formal citation, after completing an extensive review of Department for Children and Families’ (DCF) worker and workplace safety protocols in the wake of Lara Sobel’s murder.
VSEA says if a citation had been issued, in addition to levying fines, VOSHA, by statute [21 VSA§225 (a)], would be required to “fix a reasonable time for the abatement of the violation.” But the only timeline mentioned in VOSHA’s warning letter is a reminder to DCF that “VOSHA may return to your work site in approximately one year to further examine the conditions noted above.” In its letter, VOSHA also recommends that “the State voluntarily take the necessary steps to eliminate or materially reduce your employees’ exposure to the risk factors stated.”
This letter by VSEA Barre Chapter President Sue LaFleche appeared in today’s Times Argus. VSEA thanks Sue for her initiative and help.
"I am writing to let your readers and the public know why “We Support Our State Employees” signs are popping up across Vermont. They are union members of VSEA’s efforts to rally support of Vermonters to protect the services they rely on by supporting the state employees who provide them. We want the state to negotiate a fair contract with its employees."
